The Happy List........Pants!

I am thankful for pants!  I know it sounds silly but it's true.  I own a dress but it never gets worn.  I look dumpy in a dress.  There!  I said it! 

I am a huge fan of old movies and I keep the DVR busy recording TMC greats and mostly I enjoy them because of the clothes.  Seriously, women just had it right in the 40's and 50's as far as I'm concerned and I'm happy to see some of those same fashions coming back.  They knew how to look feminine and classy.  I know there were dumpy women back in the day but I have a feeling there were lovely items like girdles to keep the lumps at bay.  I guess I could try one of those...........nah! 

And so I'll be thankful for pants!  Every day I don't have to wear a girdle is a day to be thankful, don't you think?  

My Heart Remembers

A couple of weeks ago, May 13, was the birthday of my mother-in-law, Ruth Virginia Jacobs.   She passed away in 2014 and it left a big hole in our family.  To celebrate her birthday, Bob's dad (Pop) wanted as many of us that could to meet together at her grave site to just remember her together.  And we did.  Somebody told about the time she gave us three newlywed girls sexy lingerie for Christmas.  Only Jinny!  Another told of a time when, on a trip, Jinny slipped in the hotel bathtub but was more concerned with the perceived germs in the tub than she worried about being hurt.  Only Jinny!  Then somebody mentioned the time when the gas meter man asked Jinny to hold on to the dogs while he checked the meter but, as he was walking out of the yard she let them go and they chased him.  Her excuse was that he asked her to hold them "while he was checking the meter".  Only Jinny!!  There are so many more funny stories about Jinny and she would've been the first to tell one on herself.   

But Jinny was so much more!  I had the pleasure of knowing her for 33 years and she became another mom, a spiritual mentor, Nan to her grands, and just a really good friend.  Because of Jinny's example, I wanted to perfect the art of pie making.  She was a really good cook but her pies were so yummy!  Almost every time I bake a pie, I think of Jinny.  And when it came to making a home, there was nobody better!  Her home was not only always beautifully decorated but it was a warm and welcoming place for her immediate family as well as lots of church family and family from Arkansas.  And Jinny was an author.  She could always tell stories better than anybody I know so it just seemed natural when, in her late 70's, she wrote and self published a book based on her life growing up in the hills of Arkansas titled "My Heart Remembers".  What a gift she gave us and now my grand kids!

Happy Birthday, dear Jinny!  Remembering you is easy because it always makes me smile.

     

The Song That Spoke Twice

(I started this a couple of weeks before Christmas but just now finished it)
I heard it again.  The song.  The one that played on the radio just hours after my mom passed away.  

 

 She died in 2005, about a week before Thanksgiving, and I was driving home that evening after being with my dad, making preliminary funeral arrangements and calling friends and family to share the sad and overwhelming news.  The radio was on but I wasn't really listening and I have no clue what station was playing but, as I was driving through Gainesville, it came on.  I heard the words of the song saying "Grandma's home for Christmas" and that's all it took.  I had cried pretty much throughout the day but now the tears really flowed and I almost had to stop driving.   I immediately understood and was so grateful for the message that God was sending me that Mom was now "home", well, happy, and in the midst of God and those loved ones that had gone before.

It felt like my own little comforting and healing miracle.  I mean, it was a week before Thanksgiving so Christmas music hadn't even been playing that much and I'm not sure what radio station, at that time of night, would've been playing southern gospel.  It was the first time I'd ever heard the song and I've not heard it since. 

Till this morning.  The grief of Mom's passing has all but gone away and I simply enjoy remembering, almost daily, who she was to me, the good and the bad, and what it meant to our family to have her for our mom.   So when I heard the song again I thought of her.  But I also thought about how I, myself, am a mom and will become a grandmother at some point in the hopefully not so distant future.

I really hadn't listened to the other words of the song on that sad day back in 2005 but this morning I heard them.  And the voice sang about the influence that "Grandma" had on the family and how, growing up, he had enjoyed going to her house because of the smile she wore on "her tired and wrinkled face" and how she'd squeeze him close in a big hug.
 
I want to be that kind of grandma.  I want my home to always be welcoming and warm when my kids and grandkids come.  I want to be so intimate with God that I will never leave impressions of myself but only that of Him and His Son, Jesus.

So this random song was a comfort in 2005.  And it has now become a challenge in 2013 for me to prepare to be a grandma full of smiles, hugs, and a life that points to God.





     

Kaylee's Thanksgiving surprise: The story

Kaylee:  Mom, I want to do it.  It'll be great, I promise!

Mom:  I'm not sure this is the best idea but, okay, go ahead. 

Kaylee:  Okay, I'm ready now.  I'm about to do it.

 

 Kaylee:  Are you guys ready?  It's gonna be great!

 Kaylee:  I'm so excited!  This is it!  Here I go!

 Kaylee:  I'm dancing!  See, I told you it would be great!

 Kaylee:  See Mom, even Jennifer thought it was a good idea...........

Kaylee:  Pssst Mom, I think I injured something....

Pins tell it all----well, some of it.

I've been a realtor since August of 2012 and, just recently, I received my million dollar pin from Ebby Halliday Realtors.  That means I've closed a million dollars worth of home sales.  Yay me!  But what do you do with pins, right?  Well, mulling that over made me think about my GA vest which became my catch all for any pin I received or had stashed around the house.  So I thought I'd show it to you.  Aren't you glad  you popped in on my blog now?  You are!  You know you are......

 

Here's the vest.  I haven't worn it in a few years but I was a Girls in Action leader back in the day and loved showing off all my pins.

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Here's the patch that started it all.  All together I taught GA's probably for about 10 or 12 years.  I taught for a few when Bob and I first got married and then, again, when Kaylee was going through the program.  I love teaching kids about God, His Word, and His people!

This little guy is probably my oldest pin.  He's from Avon and the date on the back shows 1972.  I was 12.  It was probably something my mom got for me from her Avon lady.  1972  was a long time ago, folks!  I'm old!  And his face opens up to show some pretty disgusting lip balm or maybe perfume.  I'm not testing it!

Next in chronological line is this little yellow saxophone.  I have no clue where it came from but it represents me in high school and college when I loved being in band, mostly the marching one.  Even though, as drum major, I led the band down the wrong street in a parade.  Yeah, it happened.  Another story for another post........or maybe not.

How can you not smile when you're being a servant?  I got this button when I was in charge of a Denton Baptist Association GA weekend retreat and I was about 8 months pregnant with Kaylee.  I had energy then.  Even at 8 months pregnant.   

And then the babies started coming.  I couldn't help but add one of my diaper pins to the vest.  They were all so darned cute and they were pinned on many, many cloth diapers back in the day.  Sigh!  Babies are just not babies for long enough.

This baby grew up to be a baseball player, a short lived pianist, a lover of all things Pokémon, a percussionist, a pilot, and the pin in the bottom corner shows that he graduated from Air Force basic training a few years ago.  And now he's a husband.  See, that baby grew up way too fast for this mommy.  But, come to think of it, I'm pretty fond of him at the age he is right about now.  Life is funny and good. 

And then there's my first born, Kaylee.  She grew up to be a VERY short lived dancer when she was five, a baseball player, a pianist who only plays for herself (unfortunately) a percussionist, a home owner, and a teller.  Oh yeah, and she's this mom's very good friend!

And this sweet little pin just sums it up and says it all!  

A Trip Down Memory Lane...in Ft. Worth!

 You know you're old when words like "vintage" play a part in your memories.  Like this cool vintage subway car that I like to think I once rode in.

 

I'm hoping my siblings, at least, will appreciate this blog post and maybe they'll be reminded of the same happy time.

 

Bob's current project with Rogers-OBrien is remodeling an office building in downtown Ft. Worth.  It's unrecognizable now but umpteen years ago on that same site was a department store called Leonard's.

                       

Leonard's was one of the places my family would go shopping when I was little and the best thing about Leonard's was the subway.  Because of a lack of parking space, the owners, at some point built a private subway from the parking area to the store, via a dark and very exciting tunnel.

 

So after Bob's company was way into this remodel, some very smart person decided to honor the memory of the store and the unique concept of the "free" parking lot subway by having the car restored and then moved into the lobby of the building.  The car was apparently built in the 30's or 40's and used in Washington D.C. before being bought and moved, decades later, to Ft. Worth so it could be ridden in by me.

 

 When the building is finished there will be a small Leonard's museum in the lobby with the subway car.  And I'll be one of the first to visit.

Dusting Through the Years

Every once in awhile I get a little overwhelmed with life and wish for someone to clean my house.  But this morning as I was dusting I was reminded of a blessing. 

 

As I dusted Bob's guitar case as I have for 30 years, it just hit me that I've dusted that guitar case for 30 years!  Amazing!  But as I realized that, I was thankful that I have a husband who is so talented and has blessed us with his music.  Music that's been handed down through the generations.  He taught himself to play but was influenced greatly by his Uncle Tommy and others in his mother's ultra and multi musically talented family.  Bob was also influenced by the great work of Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys and James Taylor, two of his favorites.

 

As I dusted the bookshelves in Kaylee's room I'm reminded of the blessing that she is.  I've replaced a lot of her things with mine but have left remnants of who she is as she grew up.  There are books that were special to her and so they are to me.  There's a shelf dedicated to some of her artwork and crafts over the years.  And there's a shelf that is full of trinkets that represent Kaylee's special relationship with her Nan.  

 

Then I looked in Bobby's room........and that's as far as I got.  He and Jennifer got married a month ago and he hasn't completely moved out yet.  Which is okay.  I know that eventually his remaining possessions will be gone and Bob and I are already making plans for the space.  But I'm happy to make the transition gradually.  And when I do get in there to clean and dust, there'll be blessings.  Right now there are just too many "blessings" to dust.  

 

I honestly have never considered dusting much at all other than a dreaded chore.  But it was pretty fun today to realize that even dusting has its advantages.